Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has revealed that Manchester United offered more money than Real Madrid to sign Karim Benzema back in 2009.
The Frenchman established himself as one of the world's best forwards at the time, netting 20 and 17 goals in Ligue 1, before leaving the club.
Aulas claims United were eager to lure him to Old Trafford but it was Real who won the race for his signature, paying €35million to complete the move.
The Lyon chief claims that United had offered more money to seal the deal but the player's preference to move to to Spain meant Lyon accepted the lower offer.
"When Karim was solicited to leave Lyon, we had two offers: Manchester United and Real Madrid," Aulas told beIN .
"Karim, like Nabil [Fekir], came to see me, and that’s where there’s relationships that show trust, and told me ‘My dream is to play for Real Madrid’.
"And so he went to Real Madrid for an inferior fee to what we had from Manchester United."
Benzema remains at Madrid to this day having won four Champions League trophies, two La Liga titles and two Copa del Reys during his time with the club.
